But if anyone can overcome adversity, it’s Martin, a Chicago native who has been seemingly fighting to survive since grade school.

The hard-hitting knockout artist divulged a very personal side of his non-fighting life while a guest on a recent edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), and revealed a Terry Martin that many fans don’t know.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but I had gangbanged my whole life — since the age of 10,” Martin admitted.

Street life and low expectations were simply a way of life for Martin, who grew up in one of Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods on the city’s south side.

“I was always told, ‘You will never amount to anything. … You won’t live to the age of 16,'” Martin said.

Many of his naysayers were almost proven right in the summer of 1996, when a 15-year-old Martin was a victim of a drive-by shooting. The attack left Martin in critical condition from five bullet wounds sustained to his leg and chest.

“If you have ever seen me fight, and you see those cuts in my side and those holes in my back … those are bullet holes,” the 27-year-old fighter said. “I still have a bullet lodged in my lower back.”

The ordeal convinced Martin to focus less on life in the streets and more on his education, and he eventually became the first in his immediate family to graduate high school. In fact, the former gang member has since gone on to earn a bachelor’s of science degree, a master’s degree, and he is currently a doctoral candidate at the Adler School of Psychology in Chicago.

And Martin has accomplished all of this while competing in 23 professional MMA bouts and his recent pro-boxing debut.

The soft-spoken fighter is now so demure that even his closest peers in academia are shocked to find out about the other Terry Martin.

“I was sitting in class, and one of the other students recognized me from a (UFC) pay-per-view (event),” Martin said. “She was like, ‘Oh, my God. I never knew (you were a fighter). You are so mellow.'”

When he is not studying or training, Martin is telling his story to the next generation. The college graduate hopes to inspire others to follow his example.

“Now I talk to little kids,” Martin said. “I have a lot of people who look up to me.”

Martin has made a name for himself in MMA through his heavy hands. But it is his heavy commitment to his education that has made him a hero in his old neighborhood.

“I ended up turning my life around … by staying in school,” Martin said.

This story, written by Alton Dunham, was produced by TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com) specially for MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). The show — which is hosted by fighter/broadcaster Frank Trigg, Gorgeous George and ace producer Goze — books some of the biggest names in MMA. Download all the former episodes at www.taggradio.com, or tune into TAGG Radio’s live shows Monday-Friday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?